I Will Make You Ugly
by TheOneAndOnly1993
Summary: A run-in with Nigel leaves Jewel horribly scarred. Ashamed of what happened and how she looks, she makes great efforts in preventing Blu from seeing her. But how long can she keep this up before Blu finds out? And when he does, what will happen? How will he react? Will he be disgusted, or... ashamed?


**_I Will Make You Ugly_**

**_by TheOneAndOnly1993_**

* * *

"I should turn back," Jewel urged to no one in particular as the sky turned dark above her. Well, no one except herself, her common sense. But some little monkey on her back was just screaming _One more loop around the beach! What's the harm in that?_

And Jewel did love flying.

She and Blu have made this jungle their home. It was here where they decided to start a family. Has it really been five months? To Jewel, it still felt like a week ago when her mate crashed headfirst into the tree they eventually claimed as their's.

That stupid, clumsy, wonderful loving mate.

Jewel felt something flutter in her breast something awful, but she stuffed the feeling down for later when she returned home, to where Blu was likely watching over the eggs and worrying himself silly over protecting them from the weekly rainfall. Jewel chuckled at the though as she beat her wings once more, drawing her eyes closed and gliding against the tepid westbound air. The bracing scent of Brazilian ocean salt was carried with it, making her giggle like she did back in the days of her flockhood.

_Back where I started, _she realized, beak slowly curving into a smile. Thoughts of Blu knitting a blanket out of leaves for the eggs flooded her mind, and Jewel couldn't help but quicken her leisure pace.

The sky above roared as the shoreline in the distance began to thrash. Suddenly its view was obscured by a dark shape that fell from the trees; quicker than Jewel could react, which was a feat in itself, the shape made a charge as though angered by her shimmering blue plumage against the darkness of the jungle behind. Both she and the assailant fell as one, skidding into the plush white beach sand and slamming to a stop against the broad trunk of a coconut tree.

Jewel was given a moment to stir, blink many times before calling out suddenly, "What is...?" Just the shoreline gave answer: the whisper of leaves, waves crashing against rock, a fat drop of rain plopping on her beak.

Finally, a low chuckle came from the assailant before her just as she realized who it was. "You don't remember me, precious?" asked a memory with a sleazy purr, face leaning in close. "How could you forget such a pretty face?" He was right; how could Jewel forget the infamous "bird murderer" of Rio? How could she forget those sunken eyes and that calculating stare, the grisly unwashed feathers or the unruly odor of raw meat on his breath? The five months she had last seen him did nothing for Nigel at all. In fact, he seemed to have grown to look worse. However he survived being sucked into a plane turbine, through sheer luck or a lust for vengeance she could not say, but Nigel's apparent relentless hunt of Jewel and her partner had given him no time to preen or bathe. And now that his pursuit has finally bore fruit after five months, Nigel had this maddening look in his eye that seemed to flare orange whenever his eye ogled his prey.

No matter how ugly, Jewel had to remain her cool and fight against the surprise of seeing a foe she thought was long dead. As she staggered to her feet, a pained grunt was swallowed when a sharp stabbing pain ran through her side. The suddenness of it almost brought her back to the sand. "You look well," Jewel lied, "where've you been keeping at, Nigel?"

Nigel didn't take too kindly to her bold sense of humor; like lightening the cockatoo had his talons wrapped around Jewel's delicate neck. His talons were like meathooks, Jewel remembered, and cold, burrowed into the palm tree's bark and ensuring her that escape would not come easy. The side of her face was pressed against the moist bark, choking her with its fresh earthy scent brought on by the ensuing downpour.

"You made me ugly," he growled.

Jewel knew he was referring to the plane incident. "I thought it was lovely parakeet," she choked, struggling but eventually giving a wry smile.

Nigel gave no response outside of tightening his hold to a near death-squeeze. It was right there when Jewel, gasping for air as her beautiful eyes turned red, realized that Nigel was here to exchange witty banter in the fashion he once did; like a trained hound, he was here for the kill and nothing more. The very thought of that forced Jewel's chest-puff facade to crumble and let tears well her eyes.

"I'm not stupid," said Nigel, voice like a whip. "You've got a family on the way now. I can smell it in your musk. Seeded? By that witless twenty-times-damned flying rat Blu, no doubt." The words were like sour milk in his mouth, and all of a sudden Jewel felt very vulnerable and her cheeks aflame. "Yes, Blu," he continued, as though he could sense Jewel's unease. "I smell him _all _over you, She-Bird."

"Shut up," she croaked as a tear was felt rolling down her cheek and over Nigel's withered claw.

"Oh don't worry, pretty little thing," Nigel purred as he brushed a wing across her cheek to wipe away the tear. "I'm not here to kill you. No, no. That'd just be too easy. No, I have something better in mind. Ooh, _yes..._"

Jewel's single uncovered eye widened at the implication and a thousand scarring images rushed through her mind. "NO!" she cried, struggling against Nigel's superhuman grip but to no avail.

"Oh calm yourself, Luv! You're not even my type. No, I've got something even better. You see, I'm a bird that likes to repay his debts. I'd like to see you suffer. See how nicely it comes together?" Nigel threw his head back in a raucous bout of laughter; Jewel could only whimper, unsure of what he was prattling on about. "So in short, I'm gonna do something I should have done the moment I met you two love birds..."

Nigel leaned forward until his wretched beak was nearly buried into Jewel's plumage. It traveled upwards, taking in her fear-drenched musk, and whispered in her ear.

_"I. Will. Make. You. Ugly."_


End file.
